Kodi Biking Trip

Kodi - it was such an unplanned trip for me. KK was planning to cycle the hills with a couple of friends. My Kodi trip was supposed to start on Friday (28th) evening. Then I thought - what the hell, why would I want to go to Kodi for just 1.5 days? So I checked with KK if I could join him for the cycling trip. Luckily, there was a cycle available for me at the Kodi guest house.

That was it! On 25th morning, I jumped onto KK's Indigo and we drove to Kodaikanal. Reached there around 5pm. Our first stop was the Golf Club where we met the gang. The cycling plan was explained to us and then we were all set.

Day One - We started around half past nine on the observatory road. there were three Ford Endeavors with food and water, two people on the motorbike to help with us any problems with the cycles, and a masseur. the first stretch was an uphill and it was quite bad. most of the them were gasping for breath, but still made it. flat roads to begin with would have been better i thought. from there it was downhill for a while. this road was taking us to Mannavanur. the total distance was around 35 kms. at the downhill stretch, our bikes were speeding at more than 40kmph. little did we know what was going to happen. my bike went out of control at a bend. i tried braking hard - didnt work out that well. the bike was skidding and i was going to go straight into the mountain. thats when i realized that i had to do something. so i jumped off the bike and landed on my back. luckily, nothing serious except for a minor internal damage to the thigh muscle. about 50 mtrs behind another person fell - and that was KK. he had a bad fall - bruised his elbow and knee. we started off again. what was waiting for us was one helluva hill climb - a never ending one rather. with every turn we took, we hoped that it would lead to a flat road, but it never worked to our favor. finally, we came to our lunch spot. it was like a cliff, from where we could see the sheep farm and the area surrounding it. from there it was downhill. we kept cycling till we reached a point where the road forked to Berijam and Kavunji. We took the road to Berijam and cycled a few kms. Berijam is a protected area and tourists are not allowed into that forest belt. a few kms towards the Berijam lake and then it was time to head back.



Kodi Biking Trip

Day Two - started with two rounds of the lake. then we took a right turn at the bus stand near the lake into the road that led to Villupatti. Initial downhill, after that, it was 1.5kms of pure uphill. when we got to the top, most of us were knacker ed. we took the straight road which was another downhill-uphill combination. at one point, the road forked and went further up. if we had done that hill as well, then it would have been the best climb. but didn't do it - junta was tired. that hill was leading us to Nayudupuram. we drove back and took the road to Kurinji Temple. towards the right of the temple there was a small road that was leading us back to the lake - a distance of about 5 kms i guess. this trip was close to 25kms. the best part about day two cycling - the uphill and downhill circuits were more frequent. so, more work. in the day one track, we had flat roads and small gradients as well. in such places we could cycle fast and get some pace. with the uphill downhill combo, the problem was - one needs to keep braking when downhill and then change gears to prepare for uphill. all the speed that you gather when you come downhill comes down by a fifth. if you didnt brake, then you'd definitely be under one of those speeding cars coming on the opposite side.

Evano Oruvan: Thinks like Everyone

Everyday we are sick and tired of so many things that happen around us. For people like me - the bike in front cuts the lane to make you brake hard, one rain and the whole city is inundated, authorities are not bothered, people jump the STOP LINE at the signal and take off 4 seconds before the Green signal. people park their vehicles on the main road and block the traffic.. the list goes on.

For an average educated man, lets say middle class - who is either a government employee or has a bank job, its a little different. He struggles to make ends meet. His life runs on a budget. Even a slight shake given by an external force would trouble his normal life and routine. And this is what we see about Sridhar Vasudevan (Madhavan) - a middle class Brahman bank employee.

Let me not spend time in writing about what the story is. It would be better if we concentrate on the main characters and the screenplay.

The main credit goes to the handling of the story. Although Nishikanth Kamath - the screenplay writer and director of this movie is giving us a re-production of Dombivili Fast, the original movie, we still need to give him extra credit for showing us a protagonist who feels just like how many educated individuals do.



Madhavan plays a character who is affected by corruption and malpractice happening around him. He has his own principles and his principles aren't anything strange that this society would mock at. He wants to be honest, hard working and sincere. He expects the elements around him to work quite like him. This is when all the trouble starts.

The long queue to get a bucket of water, the street vendor who charges extra money for aerated drinks, the depositor who gets a loan sanction without submitting proper documents, policemen who are not bothered by neighborhood unfriendly activities, the school principal asking for a hefty donation to provide admission - all these incidents show extreme pressure on a middle class individual who expects the system to help his existence.

The monotonous middle class life that runs like the hands of a clock - the daily alarm at 5.30am, the same vegetables, packed curd rice, train journey to office, punching a few checks at the bank, the 5pm bell and you are back home - ready to start another day. Along with this, you have the wife and children.

Sangeetha plays the wife character. Very genuine and typical - the way you'd see it in most families. Her life just goes in preparing lunch, taking care of the house and running behind the uncooperative children shouting at them to get ready for school. She is annoyed that her husband lives by the rule book. She wants a moderately happy lifestyle for family and she is prepared to let the system function the way it does, even if its taking a toll on their family budget.

Seeman, the police officer, is perhaps the best character. In a supporting role, he is able to understand the emotions of an educated man. He accepts the fact that the inefficiencies and loopholes in the system coupled with the people that exploit the same are reasons for anger and despair. At the same time he is unable to do anything to change the same. The same reflects in the climax. He succumbs to the system.

For me it was a very hard movie, especially when it was a night show. I walked out feeling heavy. But the society has to learn a lot from this.

I feel bad that such movies will just go away with the screen impact. IT professionals like me, who have new found wealth will further ruin this - we will not bother about paying a small premium for no better service. And this will directly impact the people in the middle strata, because their salaries will not rise like ours, but the system will demand more from everyone.

The evolution of dance

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Billa 2007: the sleek outlaw

The best of the breed Derringers, Walthers, and Colts that slip to everyone's hips, chic women and dapper men clad in elegant black suits and Ray Ban sun-glasses, sports class mercs and bmw's, a picturesque Malaysia - is what takes Billa 2007 to a class of its own.



Billa 2007 is a re-make of the original Billa starring Superstar. To give you a background. It was first Don by Amitabh B, then Billa by Superstar, then Don again by Shah Rukh Khan and now Billa with Ultimate Star Ajith.

Storyline is pretty much the same. No changes that alarm you. I liked the handling of the screenplay to some extent. Since it was a re-make, importance wasnt given to explaining why some events were happening. It was rather expected to be understood. Hats off to the director and the production team - few characters who appeared in the original movie were thrown off. Teh script was much more crisp. Efforts were spent in ensuring the actors and locations match the current trends.

The movie was completely shot in Malaysia, which is something worth mentioning. Not too many movies are done like that. The choice of locations had an amazing blend with the screenplay. Drug and weapon dealings in airport hangars and old workshops give you a feeling of seeing a Hollywood movie. Then relaxing in spa resorts with a glass of wine and babes by your side gives that James Bond touch.

Ajith fits well into the role of Billa. He has done a good job. We know he can't dance that well. He tried to do something in two dance numbers, but it wasnt any good. So lets leave that part out. Dialogues were too cool - atleast for the first Billa. Velu's dialogues weren't fitting too well. It looked like there was enough reel space to waste. But when Velu comes back as Billa, things came back to normal. Ajith also performed well int he fight sequences. One part worth mentioning is the car chase. Ajith being a race driver had probably done this by himself. This was really cool.



The babes - Namitha and Nayanthara. Justice somewhat done. Namitha - my friends call her "Yaana-mitha". She definitely looks like a baby elephant in the movie. But still doesnt go away from short dresses. Babes associated with mafia have never been so plump - okay for such a judgement, my first reference is hollywood. Nayanthara - wow, wasnt she amazing!!! Stiletto heels and sports wear displaying more than what was required; with the pistol hanging by the hips; when she was walking or maybe parading; she looked like she was imitating Angy in Lara Croft and Halle Berry in the Bond movie. Her electric and athletic looks helped in pulling attention and she was a much much better fit inside the bad gang.

What like best about Nayanthara's role - there is one part where she comes to the swimming pool wearing a bikini. The camera pans directly to her back and you can see the Billa tattoo, just like the picture above. Crazy Sexy Cool it was.

Music is awesome. Yuvan Shankar Raja has given a feel of arrogance and attitude for most songs. The background music is also amazing. Two songs remixed from the old movie - pulled off quite well.

The most funny thing was Billa, police and the villain fighting for a pen-drive. Maybe, the director or the screenplay writer just ran out of ideas. In the current scenario, where technology is just everywhere around you, you'll roll on the floor and laugh when someone shoots a climax scene just for getting hold of ONE pen-drive. One could have just made a copy and given it.

The Billa fever has caught up already. Two people I know are wearing the same type of glasses that the babes used in the movie. I am sure that the tattoos are on the way.

What is my safety?

New money and old mindsets clash amid claims dishonest wives are exploiting the freedom of men.

A few days back, I read about a Delhi software engineer and his parents getting arrested and being jailed for an offense that does not need any investigation. What are we talking about here? Its the INDIAN DOWRY LAW.

The real offense was a failed marriage but a complaint from his wife on dowry grounds has just turned the whole story Topsy-turvy.

And what do we have - a man who is accused of a crime he was never into. His name has been recorded in the police register. In effect, his future has been taken for a big ride.

Why are men being subject to such treatment? Why cant there be an investigation? Why cant they register a case against both parties concerned? When a family combines both man and woman, why is a dowry related case always against the man?

I just cant understand why the laws in this country seem to be one-sided. More than 80% of this country's tax-payers are men and the women get more benefits for paying tax? And then they talk about equality for women. They have seats reserved for women in the assembly, on buses and trains. So why can't they have seats reserved for men too? Till when will our society live like this?

Let me tell you something. Perhaps the situation was bad before - even with the middle class people. Our society had discriminated against women for centuries. Agreed. And now, it might still be bad with the people at the lowest levels but with the educated class, things are much much better. But, we see educated women misusing the law to their benefit because they know that there is a loophole in the legal system.

A lawyer argues - "Just look at conviction rates for rape in England which are also low but nobody says rape does not happen". Very True. I have no doubt about that. But our law also says that you can let 100 criminals escape but not let one innocent person behind bars. So why does this law work this way?

The police commissioner claims that only 2 percent of dowry cases are this way. So what? Are you trying to fix those?

I know that - our country is still male dominated. Ours is a place where a crime against a woman happens every 33 minutes and there is one "dowry death" every 104 minutes. Less than half of the women can read or write. And more than 10 million female fetuses have been aborted in the last 20 years.

Today, I wonder. This is one portion of an educated society that I am totally unaware of. Maybe there is more to come.

Doobography

This post is dedicated to COW, who plays Ultimate with us in Chennai. Why COW - well, ask his numerous girlfriends.

Click here to check his profile on ORKUT.

Also, click here to see a community on his name with a huge fan following.

These enthusiastic fans are the creative brains behind the following film names/adaptations. By the way, all the film names given below are Tamil Film Names. So, non-tamil readers please excuse me.

Dooba - Baba
Dooba Oru Kelvi Kuri - Buvana oru kelvi kuri
Dooba Appathithan - aval appadithaan
Naan Dooba Illai - naan mahan illai
Doobadhavan - padikadhavan
Murattu Dooba - murattu kaalai
Pokkiri dooba - pokkiri raja
Thani kaatu dooba - thani kattu raja
Paayum dooba - paayum puli
Thudikkum dooba - thudikkum karangal
Adutha dooba - adutha vaarisu
Thanga dooba - thanga magan
Naan sigappu dooba - naan sigappu manithan
Mr. Dooba - Mr. Bharath
Doobathin thalaivan - Dharmathin thalaivan
Doob parakuthu - kodi parakuthu
Dooba durai - Dharma durai
Doopathi - thalapathi
Anbulla albertkanth - anbulla rajnikanth
Moondru Doobam - moondru mugam
Doobayutham - dharmayutham
Doobachalam - Arunachalam
Doobaji - Shivaji
Sri Doobavendra - Sri Raghavendra
Doobakann - Netrikann
Dooba Piravi - Athisiya Piravi
Doobayappa - Padayappa
Doosha - Baasha
Dilla - Billa
Doobathi Dooba - Raajathi Raaja
Doobamalai - Annamalai
Doobthu - Muthu
Dooban - Mannan
Doobavirku entha ooru - Thambiku entha ooru
Apoorva Doobangal - Apoorva Ragangal
16 Doobinile - 16 Vayathinile
Driya - Priya
Dooba Oonjaladugirathu - Ilamai Oonjalaadugirathu
Dooba kudutha Varam - Iraivan kodutha varam
Dooba meethu sathiyam - Thai meethu sathiyam
En Doobaviku enna bathil - en Kelviku enna bathil
Oordooba - Oorkavalan
Dooba sisyan - Guru sisyan
DOOBASTONE - BLOODSTONE
Doobspillai - Mappilai
Justice Doobanath - Justice Gopinath
Kuppathu Dooba - Kuppathu Raja
Ninaithale Dubikum - Ninaithale Inikum
Daali - Kali
Dooba potta saval - Naan potta saval
Doobajanai - Garjanai
Raanuva Dooban - Ranuva veeran
Enkeyo ketta dooba - Enkeyo ketta kural
Dooba kodukum dooba - Kai Kodukum kai
Dooba kannil neer Vazhinthal - Un kannil neer Vazhinthaal
Doony - Jhonny
Naatuku oru Dooba - Naatuku oru nallavan

Poem: Dazed

they got off the subway
she walked across the busy road
did not say a word
expressions were bold

"everything is wrong;
i am wrong"
she said
this is it and
nothing more

he stood there
watching her
he wasn't sure
where to start

the 'another i' showed up
told him to break free
he was lost
behind those hazel eyes
he thought - was she messing with my mind

Fiction: Summer Holidays II

Continued from Summer Holidays I

Ramesh and Murali were back in the house. The house, although was nothing in comparison to the ones that landlords owned in villages, was still like a palace to the children. City was crowded and packed.

From door at the entrance, you could see the other end of the house. It was a straight path. The children used that like a running track. The path was also obstructed by steps. The steps were the bifurcation points to various rooms. These steps were the hurdles and Murali was a master in taking a leap across every one of those.

At the right side of the house was the cow-shed. Ramesh was scared of the cows. Earlier, it wasn't like that. When he was three, he did not know what he was doing and he actually walked up to the cow. The animal went for him and he was thrown over onto a small haystack that was lying nearby. From then on, he was not allowed to get near the cows. But he still loved watching them. Everyday morning, Ponnamma Chaechi* used to milk the cows. Later, Saami, their grandpa, used to take some of it to the temple for the morning rituals.

At the left side was the storage house. This housed the coconuts and the grains. Everyday morning, the workers used to come to the storage area, pick up the grains in a sack, take it to the open area in front of the house and spread it under the sun. At almost mid-day, the grains looked like tiny pieces of gold.

The area that surrounded the house was almost 3 acres. There were just trees around - coconut, mango, jack-fruit. Then crotons, wild flowers, jasmine decorated the front portions of the house. Saami used the jasmine for his everyday puja at home.

Grandma called the children for breakfast. Breakfast was simple and healthy food. Porridge made out of par-boiled rice. Breakfast was a whole new event for the children. The fun part was about having the porridge. Cups to hold the porridge were made out of leaves from the jack-fruit tree. The children took a lot of interest in plucking the leaves. Then Ponnamma Chaechi* would make a small cone out of it and bind the ends piercing a small stick in between.

It was soon time for some more activity. The large wooden swing in the hall was the next target.

*Chaechi - elder sister

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Vel - old ale in new case

The usual twins separated at birth story comes back to life again. And since it has been a trend in the last decade or so to make every story in the commercial sense, this takes that route too. Moreover, a theme like this which has been exploited by most film directors in India would never even get a satisfactory comment from the masses if there wasn't any spice.

Vel is director Hari's yet another mass movie after Saami, Arul etc. In this movie, he has chosen to Surya to play the dual role.

Sharanya (remember the movie Nayagan) plays Surya's mom in this movie. She is the unfortunate mom who loses one of her twin sons. Right from the beginning of the movie till the end, all Sharanya does is whining and crying about the lost son. Nowadays, she has got such a hopeless voice. Her role is a total waste of time.

Its funny to see how one of the twins is kidnapped by a thief, just for the sake of jewelery. All the thief could have done is taken off the gold jewels because the child was already sleeping. He didn't have to take it all the way to some place, remove the jewels and leave the child there.

Anyway, we need some basis to begin the story. Two people grow up in different settings - obviously one in the city and other in the village.

Surya as Vel in the village is the angry young man. The introductory scene where he delivers the punch dialogs is extremely funny. Punch dialogs have become so typical with actors. Every hero has to have a punch dialog in the beginning of the movie and that has to reach the masses. But what are punch dialogs - rhyming expressions that make no sense.



Surya in the city as Vasu is the intelligent and smart young man. Unfortunately, he is stuck with Sharanya as the mom and I really can't imagine how he withstood her torturous and dragging dialogs. For god's sake, they are showing a mom, 25 yrs after losing her child and she is still crying. She cries even when she sees a orphan on the road. My god! why didn't they have a better role for her.

Asin is simple and neat. She has put on very little fat but since its showing at the right places, she looks very beautiful. For once the director decided not to use extra make-up on Asin. So, when you see her on screen, you get the feeling that you are probably seeing a just-another-girl character. Very plain but attractive.

So, we know that the story is all about how the twins are going to meet and what's going to happen after that. Thankfully, the director did not have another female lead in the movie. Then we'll need more songs and romanctic pursuits.

Vadivel is best in his comedy. He is part of the village crowd and we know for a fact that Vadivel does better village comedy than city stuff. His accent is best suited for a village setting. The sequence where a number of incidents happen only because of a crow's dropping calls for riotous laughter.

Songs are okay. These are not numbers that get you tapping your foot. They just blend with the storyline. Asin wears a reading glass in one of the songs and she looks really cute. That's something worth mentioning I guess. "Ottraikkannaala" and "Kovakkara Kiliye" - maybe you'll want to hear to these songs again.

Overall rating - not bad. could have been better. sentiment killer.

Azhagiya Tamil Magan (ATM) - Not that beautiful

A walk into that local theater in the evening with an expectation that is sky high. Well, the actor Vijay himself warned his fans much earlier that this film lacks any logic that someone would expect. So, lets get that dirty thing out of our mind. And just try and enjoy the film, perhaps rip it here and there too.

As the movie began, the music for the titles did not make any impact. To some extent I had known the storyline, but it still did not help in just one way.

Imagining Vijay as a college going student is very difficult. After seeing him play much mature roles in Pokkiri, Gilli, Sivakasi etc. its back to college years. But thankfully, the number of scenes with the college as the background were minimal, so one tends to forget that the actor was actually a college student.

Malayalam movie veterans would remember "Iyer the Great" - a classic film by Mammooty. Now tweak it here and there - bring in a lissome beauty, feelings of love and hatred, friends, a dual role to complicate the subject, family and friends for sentimental value - to make it a perfect commercial movie. Thats ATM for you.

Actor Vijay is a athlete in this movie. At 33 plus, its difficult to imagine him as an athlete, but we have to appreciate the effort that has gone in. He has lost weight. His frame is a bit smaller, at least it feels so. And again, athletics is not the main theme of this story. So, not a bad idea. Its definitely better than Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol playing basketball in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. That was such a disgrace to basketball.

Before we move on, I'd like to make one comment about the opening song - Ellaappughazhum. Okay, nowadays all hero introduction songs are highly people oriented - about camaraderie, friendship, fraternity, brotherhood etc. Leaving that aside, the one thing that you will notice in this song is the dance. Vijay has done a few sequences that none of the other Kollywood heroes have done, in the last few years, which is good, because in most other instances, we see Rajinikanth and Vijayakanth walking from this end of the screen to the other and all they do is raise their hands up in the air and bring it down quickly, synchronizing a head shake or two in the middle.



Shriya is simply perfect. She glows like a fresh lotus in a clean pond. Her smile is serious competition to Rani Mukherjee. And you could pay a trillion dollars to watch Shriya in a half sari. Shriya totally complements Vijay on the screen. Nothing unlike Sivaji, where her role was a time wasting tactic. Although her screen presence does not justify her role as a female lead, she plays her part quite well. In the song sequences, she looks like an Arabian beauty. After Jennifer Lopez's, the next best in the world is Shriya's. You know what I am talking about - do you?

Storyline as stated before is about a person who has ESP. You'd kinda feel stupid when you already know the climax of the movie before the intermission. I definitely got that feeling and I was totally annoyed, bored and sick. But then, why are some directors successful to a large extent. They simply know their audience well. The same principle applies here. Although I guessed what was going to happen in the end, the end was still worth it.

Dual roles - good cop and bad cop. What I didn't like about the bad cop was he turning a new leaf after hearing to a small sentimental speech about sex, love and relationships from Shriya. That portion sucked big time. I think that was the only option available for a screenplay that had already dragged people out of their chairs. Literally - a running out of time situation.

Songs - AR Rahman proves himself time and time again. This time a lot of techno and folk music. ARR hates to do a remix, but fine. The director probably asked for it. "Ponmagal Vandaal" did the needful. This season is a remix season. Every movie has one remix song and ARR gave his contribution. "Madhuraikku Pogatha" and "Valayapatti Tamizhe" are very Indian, rather I should say South Indian. Local music instruments dominated. "Nee Marilyn Monroe" was totally on the other side of the spectrum. Completely disco types and very fast. Definitely foot tapping. Finally, "Kelamal Kaiyilae" - a good melody. This song reminds you of the 70s and 80s. ARR has ensured that the female voice brings out that emotion but maintained the music with the current trend.

Comedy doesn't make you roll on the floor because I could sense that everyone from Vijay till the light boy has tried something in the movie - I mean, to make people laugh and it worked only for some.

Bottom line: Watch this movie only if you are a Vijay fan. A generalist will not find any sense in this movie. A music lover will like the songs and the choreography.

Fiction: Summer holidays - I

Green, green and green everywhere. That small village in Kerala. Two more months for the monsoon. The cool weather was just setting in. Few more minutes to sunrise and in that dim light, you could see the tiny roads with farmlands on either side. The village was ready to begin a new day. Men, women and children were walking to the bathing ghat near the river. The women and children had a separate bathing ghat. "Don't go too far into the water Murali. The crocodile will catch you!" - said Gita Atthai*. It was her technique to keep the children from going deep into the water. But Murali was determined to take a good swim. It was his summer holidays, away from home and he knew that he will not get the freedom to do anything anywhere other than at their Atthai's home. Murali and Rajesh (his brother) were totally excited. Atthai's home and village was like a camp site for all their escapades.

Ramesh was busy. He had a new toy for himself. It was a large coconut leaf. He was using it like a vehicle. Sitting on the thicker end, he would give a signal to Pappu, who was his friend at the village, to drag him over a short distance. It was total enjoyment for him. The city paved no opportunity for such small pleasures.

Playing time near the river was over. The children started walking back to their house crossing the fields. Shankunni, a farmer in his forties, was busy working at the field. The field was full of tapioca. He saw the children walking across the field. He waved to them, quickly pulled out some fresh tapioca and took it to them. Everybody at the village respected Murali's grandfather. He was called Saami (colloquial for Brahman). Most of the land that the farmers plowed belonged to Saami's family. The children of the house were a delight to the villagers.

The siren from the nearby factory had just sounded. That was a signal to most people. The three sirens for the various shifts in one day signified morning, noon and evening for villagers.

*atthai - dad's sister

Om Shanti Om - Bollywood Potpourri

Om Shanti Om - the diwali blockbuster directed by Farah Khan was a post diwali trial for me. I usually don't watch hindi movies. I kind of stick to tamil movies - fact is that there are so many getting released that you literally don't get the time. But, for no reason, this is my second hindi movie in a week and my god, I don' wanna be doing anything like this again.

For some reasons, OSO is a good movie. We'll see all that good parts in bits and pieces as we try and strip this movie. The adaptation of the 70s was excellent. Movie begins with Chintu Uncle and his famous OSO song which sets the right mood and tempo for the movie. Excellent work by the editing team. We definitely know that the video being shown is an old piece, but the seamless plugging in of that with the film is quite commendable. And this is not just here, it continues for a few more songs in the first half.

SRK is a junior artist who aims to be a superstar. He is truly, madly, and deeply in love with Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone). Wow, this woman is definitely someone to watch out for. This is her first film and her screen presence makes you flabbergasted. The first half is just the 70s. Most things about the first half of the movie reminds you of what your mom and dad would have witnessed in the theater or within their friends circle - bell bottoms, step cut and wave cut hair-style, checked trousers in bright colors, wide belts with large metal buckles, cute gowns and frocks with polka dots, tight fitting salwars with filigree at the sleeves and neck lines, color matching earrings and bindis. In between all this, I noticed the Ovaltine Ad too. Remember this drink?

SRK takes a dig at everything - the whole industry, the way it works, the filmfare awards, the fits that people throw and some at himself too. At one point he says "overacting to mere khandaan me hi hai" (overacting runs in the blood). And then comes other stuff like "Phir bhi dil hai NRI". The name sentiment is perhaps the best. We know for a fact that a number of heroes - both yesterday and today have changed their original names to what we know them today as. Om Prakash Makhija (SRK) is another one who wants to do that but is not successful.

Kiron Kher is the mother and she is definitely overacting. The SRK Syndrome? She is a painful mother who is so annoyingly loving and caring. Maybe SRK needs such people in his team.

Deepika Padukone (DP) is going to be serious competition for Priyanka Chopra. At 5ft 9in, she is stunning and her smile is so fresh like a breeze after a monsoon. It gives you an eternal feeling. OSO is more an SRK movie - its completely about the hero, but still Deepika plays a very important role and the plot of the movie is around her. DP has totally worked on her style. She has perfected the seventies art of walking and smiling. The turning of head and waving of hands is just flawless. In effect, she is trying to bring back to us the Asha Parekh, Tanuja, Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat etc. And she does a good job in that role. There is one scene where they play badminton. The men in white and women in colorful salwars. A typical 70s setup - more love and less lust.

First half of the movie goes on at an interesting pace and suddenly we realize that an intermission is perhaps best and then the whole drama begins. Within 15 to 20 minutes, we are done and its time for a break. I have no plans of writing the story here.

The Alchemist Philosophy holds good - "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true."



Songs are amazing, but the story line does not have any depth. Its totally on the surface and everyone is skating on it till the end. Parts of the movie remind you of Kamal Hassan's superhit film Enakkul Oruvan. Then some parts are like the English movie Grease - don't ask me why. Its just a thought that I got. Then the next is The Phantom of the Opera. The bungalow scene, the lights, the staircase and the chandelier aren't anything phenomenal. All of that looks like an adaptation of the Opera movie. At some places, even the musical notes are comparable.

Well OSO serves one purpose. If a tourist asked what he could take from India as a Bollywood Souvenir, then they can probably buy a copy of this movie. Every top star in Bollywood has made a guest appearance in this movie. So he or she can go back to their country and show a glimpse of Bollywood.

Jab We Met - Balle Balle Love

Yeah, so the main theme here is the boy-meets-girl story. But Imtiaz Ali, the director has taken it to an extra level. Its not the typical boy-meets-girl and then emotional love, separation, songs etc.

I havent watched Socha Na Tha, which is also another Imtiaz Ali movie. From what I know, that is also a boy-meets-girl movie. I hate such themes. I always think - why cant bollywood directors and screenplay writers learn from malayalam movies or even tamil movies - offlate a few of them have been really good. Most Hindi movies are just extravagant and bombastic - nothing else.

Okay, when JWM started, I didnt know what was happening or rathe, what was going to happen. Well, we know that Shahid (Aditya) has to meet Kareena (Geet) somewhere and something has to happen. But that took some time. When Geet started her dialogue, which only stopped almost close to the intermission, I was totally annoyed and irritated. Aditya tries everything he can to shut her up and leave him alone - nothing works. She is almost stuck to him like a leech but later we see that she brings about a positive change in him.

At one point, Aditya explains to Geet about his past. That's one emotional drama. You are almost deciding that this movie is also taking the same dramatic turn, but thank god, that doesnt happen. Both characters have a very good sense of humor and that lives throughout the film.

In the second half, roles change. Geet gets dumped by her boyfriend and ends up lonely. Aditya takes her shoes and becomes the enthusiastic, can we say, boyfriend.

Other things that I almost liked - the friendship between Aditya and Geet. They almost understand each other so well and are affectionate. They accept each other's life even when there are failures. There is no sad music in the background when one leaves the other, no coming back and hugging each other. The next thing is the songs. You must hear to the one below. This is perhaps my favorite.



Few things do stand out in this movie - we still have the Punjabi family that is hopping, dancing and partying a lot. Then they worry a lot. We do have loud uncles, but thank god, we dont have a crying mom. But they are not painful to the eye. Also, elders in the movie are not troubling the flow of the movie by being extra emotional. Their roles are justified. But we know that most family settings in Punjab, atleast from the Hindi movies, are highly ornate. And to support that argument, we have colorful lehengas and huge bungalows. The best part is the usage of the washing machine to prepare lassi. Thank god, I dont remember seeing butter chicken.

On the other hand, there is a lot of insight that this movie provides - especially in the character of Kareena Kapoor (in the initial half). She comes across as someone who is not shying away from the difficulties that a person would face. She is cheerful, bold enough to be blunt and open about what she wants. She is a breeze of confidence and that encourages Shahid to change himself and his lifestyle. Problems do not mean that its the end of the world. The key is to remain determined and confidently happy to face these blocks and strive to be successful. If you keep brooding over your past, its not going to make anything about your future better.

Marudhamalai and Malaikottai

Saw two action packed movies over the weekend. absolutely no logic and totally hero centric movies. By the way, when have tamil movies focused on giving more screen presence to the women folk? Maybe, one in fifty movies?



Marudhamalai - action king Arjun comes back with yet another police story, but this time there is a change. and you'll realise that when you watch the film. every hero who plays a police is usually an assistant commissioner or an IPS or an Inspector. In this case, our hero is a simple constable. He joins at the lowest ranks and hence, there is a lot of scope to move away from the larger than life image, at least for the initial parts. after that it gets to the usual - crouching tiger type stunts. the story starts off with a very light mood - enough room for comedy. Vadivel is at his best again as Encounter Ekambaram. He is actually a senior in the police station, in comparison with the hero. At a number of instances, we can see him use his superiority as a tool to initiate a comedy track. Nila who supposedly plays the female lead gets side-lined big time. For once, this story does not involve the bad guy abducting the girl to take revenge. Love and enemity are two different tracks in this movie. A good decision by the director to keep them apart. In tamil cinema lingo, there is a new term called "build-up". This movie has got enough of that right from the beginning. Songs are below average - i dont think anyone would want to hear to them more than once. Laal plays the bad guy. The scope for performance in his role is very less. Most of the time we see him behind the bars. The one part that I liked other than the comedy is when the hero takes action against false claims made by a politician. This is very much in reference to what happens today. A number of people (mostly politicians) make public statements without any evidence or reason. The media takes notice, but after a few days, it just dies out. No one is bothered.



Malaikottai - action youth Vishal comes back. Offlate, all of his movies have been anything related to just ruthless fighthing - Sandakozhi, Thimiru, Tamaraparani, and Sivapathigaram. Female lead is Priya Mani. Priya is very pretty when she wears short tops and mini skirts. If you'd noticed her in Kangalaal Kaithu Sei (the Bharathiraja movie), then you'd go agape. In this movie, she is usually wearing a salwar that doesnt suit her appearance well. Rather the character is like that - a pious engineering student in Trichy. You can't expect her to be in tank tops! Anyway, she is totally side-lined. No scope at all. Few lines here and there, just to justify the need for a female lead. Vishal plays the jobless youth. The only impression I get, from seeing him in this movie is that he can just jump around and get a few kicks. More fight sequence means less scope for displaying acting talent. Standard expressions - you can make out that the Vishal in Sandakozhi is the same as Vishal in Malaikottai. The getting into character aspect is very less. Ashish Vidhyarthi and Urvashi have been roped in for the comedy but it doesnt stick well. There is nothing special that I can remember about this movie. I still wonder how cinema halls are managing the cost by running this stupid movie. Oh yes - The remix version of the "Ae Aatthaa" song. That was just awesome. Maybe that's the reason!

Surutapalli

So, during our trip to Kalahasti last weekend, we decided to go to this place called Surutapalli. This small temple town or lets call it village, is on the way from Chennai to Tirupati. On the route to Tirupati from Red Hills in Chennai, you will reach a point called Periyapalayam. Take a diversion from there and you will head towards a place called Uthukottai. A few kilometers on the highway that leads you away from Uthukottai is this place.

The specialty of this place is that its the only Siva temple where the Lord is in a Sayana position (sleeping). In every other temple, you will find Lord Siva in the form of a Linga, but in this temple, you will find Siva sleeping on Parvati's lap.



Story goes like this - on the advise of lord vishnu, the devas and the asuras were churning the ocean of milk. the mandara mountain was used as the churn stick and the serpent vasuki was the rope. when the mountain sank, lord vishnu supported the mountain by taking the tortoise incarnation. this was the kurma avatara. the first item that emerged from the churning was a pot of poison. the devas and asuras rushed to lord siva and pleaded with him for protection. Lord Siva then swallowed the poison, but before it could go further, Parvati pressed his neck and the poison remained there permanently. That is why we know Lord Siva by another name -- Neelakantha (blue throated).

It is believed that Lord Siva, after consuming the poison, was very tired and drowsy. So, he lied down to rest on Parvati's lap at Surutapalli.

This place is famous for so many other deities. Here, the Dakshinamurthy is seen along with his consort Gowri, which is something you don't see in any other temple. There is also a Durga sculpture where the goddess is holding a parrot in her lower hand and the other lower hand is resting on her thigh. This is very rare for a Durga sculpture.

Another rare feature is at the entrance. The doorkeepers on either side of the temple are also with their consorts. In every other temple, you will find the doorkeepers alone.

Holiday round-up

Last few days have been really crazy. On Friday I left to Sree Kalahasti - one of the Pancha Bhoota Shrines of Lord Shiva. The deity here is represented as Vaayu Linga, which is Air. On the way, we visited another temple called Surutapalli, which has got a very special story. My next post would be on that, since I need to upload a photograph too. Saturday morning darshan at the temple was very good. At the same time it was surprising to see that a lot of people now have started visiting temples. 10 years back, the story was different. The people who were going to temples were traditionally going to temples - i mean every year or through generations. But now, there is a lot of belief in the boxes that are part of the horoscope and the planets that reside in the same. People are ready to spend any amount of money as grants to temples or do any kind of puja. Its a totally new phenomenon.

This got over on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning was fun game in the rain. Then the next trip started. To Bangalore. Another ISB wedding. I caught the afternoon bus in great hopes to reach the reception early. But you can never rely on these people. The road was amazing. But the average speed was just over 65kms per hour which sucked big time. Sunday evening was a great day to catch up a lot of friends. Around 20 of them had come down from various other cities. There was food and booze - since it was in the army officers mess. The next day was a traditional Iyengar wedding. I was done with everything by 11am. In between all this I had to attend a few phone calls from my client, answer a few questions and ensure that my project was running on schedule. (These people never leave me alone!)

Caught the afternoon bus back to Madras. On the way stopped at a small eating joint and bought some pirated dvds. I havent checked whether the dvds play but I got 4 latest movies. This place is a few kilometers before Krishnagiri on the highway, when you are coming from Bangalore and the guy has any latest movie you ask for - hindi, english and tamil. If you are a cop reading this blog, then this a tip for you. There is a huge business that is thriving and perhaps a huge network of people are happily earning. Whats the point in catching the ones in the city. India's strength lies definitely in its villages.

Rushed to Courtyard Marriott for a team dinner. The buffet sucked. They served continental food. Some of the items were okay. The starters were extremely bad. No variety at all. Even in the main course, it wasn't anything worth mentioning. For the price that we paid, I felt that Residency Towers was a much better deal. Coming to the desserts, there were six ice cream flavors and JUST ONE SCOOP. On asking, the guy told me that the kitchen has only one scoop. Wow, thats something for a five star hotel! Ambience was good. I liked the live music concept.

Had another day off yesterday - a trip to Coimbatore. It was My Best Friend's Wedding. Still was bombarded with phone calls from office. Now I am back here waiting for the Saturday Game.

Fiction: Missy on the Bus

At quarter past seven, the neighborhood is bustling with activity. There is atleast one person in every house that is getting ready to leave - to the office, to the school, to the college. The road, even though its one of the inner roads in the area, is constantly used by School and college buses. People are never tired of honking. By the time its close to half past, you can definitely hear to a multitude of sounds - you cant even guess which vehicle crossed your gate. Its a busy day everyday and sand particles start picking up with the wind.

He walked across all the inner roads. It was brisk 5 minute walk. Soon he reached the main road. Quickly he walked over the small median to the other side. It was the usual point. The same people were there. Nothing was different. This was an everyday affair and had a strange monotony attached within. He thought about the long journey he had to take. Even though he didn't have to drive all the way, it was quite a tiring journey - the morning sun shone right through the window making the insides feel like an oven. During all this, the bus arrived. The loud but sweet FM music was playing. It was time to get to that second row seat, recline and sleep. A good 40 minute sleep in the morning would always keep him refreshed for the rest of the day.

The bus started in its own pace. It reached another destination. More people finding their way to the empty seats. Then his eyes spotted the last person entering the bus. Dark lavender colored top embroidered with white flower patterns, plaited hair, a small black bindi to rightly decorate the forehead and a bright morning look on her face. From her looks and the way she walked, he could guess that she was very simple and innocent. She never looked up - perhaps it was the South Indian style, the women when they are outside never lift their head up and walk. It was more a precautionary thing. She sat right in front of him. It was the usual seating order. As the vehicle moved to the next stop, she looked out. Her eyes displayed an expression of expectation and eagerness. The moment her friend entered the bus she changed into a quick smile. "How are you Akka*" - she said as she saw her friend taking the seat beside her.

A small conversation started between them. The loud music coupled with the hustle and bustle on the main road completely cut them out of the world. From looking at them, he could sense that they were enjoying every bit of what they were talking about. Girl talk! he thought. Why bother. He closed his eyes. He wanted to go into sleep mode.

The power nap didn't last for long. He woke up. This wasn't any sharp turn or a sudden breaking. He looked around. Some more people had taken seats. The bus was full now. He looked at her, not through the gap between the seats, but on the window pane. The dark glass had become like a canvas and was reflecting a nice portrait of her face. He could see her eyes - they discoursed a flurry of thoughts. She spoke nothing.

She took a pet bottle in her hand. Holding the bottle in one hand at the base, tapped the cap of the bottle with her palm. She looked at her friend and chuckled. He understood what she did. It was an imitation from the movies about how the men opened whiskey bottles in Tamil Nadu.

He smiled and went back to sleep mode.

"Characters on this post do resemble people in real life, but as readers you don't have to come to any conclusions. This is just another attempt to make the blog a nice place to visit."

*Akka - tamil word for elder sister

Where do you live?

Blog Action Day

October 15th is Blog Action Day. On this day, more than 15000 bloggers all around the world would write their views on the environment. This could be anything - from new technology to create a cleaner and healthy surrounding, to avoiding some things that you have been doing to make this world a better place.

In a developing country like ours, we cannot afford to let the environment go to the dogs. But what can you say or what can you do - the sheer number of people around you are perhaps the problem. America is clean and clear because there are less than 400 million people for a land mass that is almost the size of India or perhaps more too. And we are just proud of having more than a billion. On the other hand, China, having a population as much as ours, is getting ahead in no time.

Before you address the environment, its important that you address WHY THE ENVIRONMENT? To get an answer to that, we'll have to work on education. Everybody needs access to a school which would teach them about working towards protecting the society they are part of. That's when they will realise. there is no point in telling people not to use plastic bags when we are not investing in an alternative - right? Its the same thing here. If we need people to follow something, then we'll need to facilitate the same. They always say - put the people first.

You might just argue - what about the people who are already educated. They themselves are doing things that are causing environmental damage. This is just a vicious circle. First of all, we do not have strict laws that protect the environment. Even if you claim that there are a few laws, the other problem is that we do not have people to enforce these laws. The people to policeman ratio is pretty bad in our country. There are more people who say - WHY SHOULD I CARE. Someone will fix it. With such elements, its difficult. Sometimes I strongly feel that we need a one party rule in India - like its in China or how it was in Germany. In such situations, rules will be rules. They will not bend to become policies. The same educated lot, when they go the US or Singapore to work, ensure that they dont do anything of the sort they do in their home country. WHY - its only that FEAR FACTOR. A fear that they will get caught and that will be the end. Over here, the attitude is - who cares, nobody is there to question. So yes, we'll need to get a bit of that fear here too. Maybe we'll have to introduce incentives to enforcement agencies for helping to protect the environment - like collect the fine from the individual and provide a share of that to the enforcer and the rest to the government. This way, people wouldnt even dream of violating a rule.

In a huge country like ours, we need investment to protect the environment. for that we'll need money. and money comes only if the system has revenues. and we know that most of the money that is available, gets squandered.

so here comes the bottomline: if every government employee and member of state just takes home only his or her salary and nothing else, then the system will have enough funds.

every home should grow atleast one tree. we know that we cant depend on the council to plant tress on the road. so its better we do it on our own.

if you have open space at the back of your house, then create a dumping pit for the biodegradable waste. atleast the soil there becomes fertile enough to grow more trees.

oh my god.. what have i written?

The Both Room in Besant Nagar Beach

Another Classic Find

Shantaram - Book Review

This was long due.

I read Shantaram months back. And since, then I was waiting to write a small review and never found the opportunity. So here it is.

Shantaram is a colorful novel right from the beginning. Every emotion that you look for, from the human heart, is packaged in the 900 odd pages. An ex-junkie and robber enters India after escaping from an Australian prison. That first bit itself raises your expectations of the whole - I could call it thriller too! This guy is the author and his photo reminds me of Liam Neeson. Lin enters hot Bombay - the maximum city. And his experiences in Bombay are not comparable to a travelogue. Rather a handbook for fake passports, drugs, stolen medicine, weapons, money and what not. Amidst all that Lin makes a local best friend - Prabhakar who helps Lin start an enchanting life in Bombay between 1981 and 1987 starting with learning Marathi.

"And I did--I liked everything about her. I liked the Helvetian music of her Swiss-American English, and the way she pushed her hair back slowly with a thumb and forefinger when she was irritated by something. I liked the hard-edged cleverness of her conversation, and the easy, gentle way she touched people she liked when she walked past them or sat beside them. I liked the way she held my eyes until the precise moment when it stopped being comfortable, and then smiled, softening the assail, but never looked away."

He falls in love with Karla - beautiful and enigmatic. Its amazing to see how her character has been sketched. She shows strength, determination, and confidence under various circumstances. "Heroes comes in three types - dead, damaged and dubious" . This is one dialogue I remember from the book that Karla made. Karla is Lin's connection to Bollywood, prostitutes, smugglers, police officers, afghans and iranians.

Further, its just unbelievable to know what all happened with Lin during his life in Bombay. He sets up a clinic in the slum, hooks up with local mafia to fetch medicines, ends up doing money laundering and fake passports. Over the seuqnce of all these events, Lin ends up at the Arthur Road prison. I cannot say that he gets beaten up black and blue. When you read those chapters, you'll feel miserable. Is prison that worse? Nothing like what you see in the movies. Its painful and traumatic. You start thinking - will he die in prison? what will happen next? will someone save him? why is he getting tortured for such a long time? (this, mainly because the prison chapters run for quite long).

Khader, the savior, gets him out and brings him back to business. Then comes another episode - the trip to Afghanistan.

Discussions about life, metaphysics, morality, death - at some places in the book, you kind of get this feeling that its not at all done reading this once. You need to mull over it again and again. Thats when you see the light behind the curtain.

Some of the characters like Qasim Ali, Johnny Cigar, Didier, Lisa, Abdullah are very lively and whenever you read parts involving them, you get a feeling like watching a western movie.

The main theme, as I could understand, in this book, is Lin's pursuit to find out the finer details about green eyed beauty Karla and the muslim don Khader. When you read this book, you definitely get thinking - Wow, I really wonder if I can see a Bombay like this.

what you'd like in this book is perhaps the amount of authenticity that it contains. although some parts have been dramatized to make the flow interesting, it still is an account from Lin's life. there is realism and richness. you also come across a tough world.

and i hope, i have inspired some of you to pick up that book.

The Hindi Class

Mahesh was more than elated. It was his first Hindi class in that term, right after quarterly exams. 11th standard was a joyous year and he was determined to take the best of every minute in being a teenager. He knew he had to attend the class in another section.

The school was quite small. The administration had opened the matriculation branch for the first time and they had been given just 3 classrooms to start with. Hindi class was a combined class. Combined - that term brought smiles into the eyes of the boys. That was the only time they could enter the girls class. Officially! Otherwise it was impossible. The girls class was sandwiched between the Principal's office and the teacher's room. Nobody could walk across, unnoticed between these two rooms. Attenders kept moving continuously between both rooms and occassionally into the girls classroom too, just to give a notice. The boys used to hate this. Sometimes, life could have been better as an attender. To get past them and take a quick look into the girls class was a big challenge. Mahesh, in fact, kept numerous bets with his friends. Pepsi at the roadside store in the evening was the most wanted.

Less than 10 minutes for the bell to ring. Science class was getting over. Mrs. Malathi was talking about Fraunhofer. But Mahesh's concentration and thoughts were completely off. He was glued to his watch. Every minute was important. Students had less than 5 minutes between each class. And especially for Hindi class, a lot had to be done. Pack just those two books and keep them ready. You dont want to carry your duckback school bag and pencil box. What will the girls think of me? One stylish writing instrument to grab their eyes. Rush to the rest room to wash your face. Tuck your shirt. Parallel trouser was the vogue then. He had stitched one very recently. One of the girls actually made a casual offhand comment. From then on, he made sure that he wore it to the Hindi Class without fail. Comb your hair properly. It was the only chance he had. He had to be impressive. The boys were not allowed to sit along side the girls on the same bench. They had to sit in different columns. But still, they were less than 2 feet away.

One glance from her and that tired look on your face? he couldnt let that happen. He quickly put some powder and tapped it into his face. Musk fragrance - he had read about it in the weekly teenage plus magazine. Musk was a fragrance that men preferred. Mahesh wanted to present that bold character in himself.

Science class got over. He was all set. Ahead of time. But still there was one thing he always wanted to do. Arrive late to the Hindi class. He thought he could make that classic late entry and do that ramp walk into his desk. But then he remembered Mrs. Vandana, his Hindi teacher, who always mandated talking in Hindi during the class and made comments in front of the girls.

"Aaj kaunsaa perfume lagaake aaye? Lip-stick lagaana bhool gaye kya?" (what perfume are you wearing today? have you forgotten the lip-stick"

"Jitna preparation tum log ladkiyon ko pataane ke liye karte ho, usse thoda kam bhi exam ke liye karte tho acchhaa rank milega." (the amount of preparation you guys do to impress the girls, if you did even half of that for your exams, you will get better grades)

It was such an embarassing moment and it wasnt just for Mahesh, but the whole boys contingent who did no want to be there in that situation to hear to all that. But still, Hindi Class was fun and memorable.

Remembering Cricket

Saw this one while browsing....



This conversation is taken from one of my favorite movies of 2007 - Chennai 600028.

for people who dont understand tamil, sorry, the fun is lost if i try to explain the joke. so forget this post.

The Red Revolution

Vodafone is finally here. The transition has begun and its very evident. I am just seeing that Vodafone is painting the whole city RED.

First it was Maxtouch. Then it became Orange in 1999 - the color was orange, changed to Hutch in 2002, but still retained its color. Later in 2005 it became pink and now its RED.

The Pug is still around and now its inside a red colored kennel. Imagine the kind of branding exercise that needs to happen for such a transformation. So many million subscribers and there shouldnt be any trouble. Hutch is India's second largest mobile phone operator and Vodafone is the world's largest mobile phone operator. The branding makeover is estimated to cost the company atleast INR 500 crores.

What I like about Vodafone is the simplicity and the message in their ads. I remember this one ad I have seen in the UK and it was just amazing.



Consumers want to get more out of the present moment, and Vodafone can enrich that experience with its products and services. A campaign thought that was encapsulated in the ‘make the most of Now’ endline. This TV execution launches the Now campaign using an analogy of someone who has to make the most out of the present moment - the Mayfly.

Cross Talk?

Hello Readers... I got this email in my inbox today from I dont know who. Just sharing it with all of you. Read it and forget it.

=============================================================
Dear Balaji,

Congratulations again!!!

You were telling me that you would decide about PWC or not before next week. I could see that you were bit skeptical in the morning whether it is best for you or not. I just feel like sharing few things, which I felt, after talking to you.

As a third person (especially I don't have much knowledge in your field), I see PWC as a big company where you can learn lot, as it is an epicenter of knowledge.

But, I don't know whether this is the dream job for you or not; whether it is a best package or not; whether you will hold more responsibilities or not; whether it is better working environment or not. I think you should know it better than anyone in this world from the available information because you are smart guy who knows about yourself.

Whatever be the case, I have confidence in you (from the way I see You) that you will grow for what you are. You have talent and you will definitely deserve for what you are either shortly or may be in few months or years; certainly you will grow to the best. My support is always there for you; and please feel free to discuss anything if I can be helpful to you.

May be a logical discussion (either to yourself or someone whom you adore or someone who is not biased) will increase clarity in the decision that you will make. I always try to write what I have in mind to make the picture clear rather than having many things in mind. Above are some suggestions which I follow; and may be you have better ways of decision making.

Best of luck for your new endeavor and we are always there to back up your proceedings.

Urs
Srini

P.S.See you soon during Diwali

Poem: Blue Crush

A bright sunny day it was
mid october if the date is a want
the day had come to an end
the bell rang; that was the sign

he rushed through the busy corridor
in his usual stride
past that small nest
where the chirpy birds reside

he stopped there
for he witnessed what he could not believe
a damsel who was never around before
coiffure that reminded him of just rapunzel next
a little beam across his face
he asked himself - is it her?

feelings he had deep inside
he wasnt sure, so he had to hide
she did not know, she had no clue
the secret was stored in mind for a while

walking on the road
towards the bus stop
he thought their eyes met
she looked away
maybe she was scared, he thought

he took the chance
for he knew time would never tell
the road bend was the spot
no one around
silence the only companion

he looked in her eyes
she seemed surprised and confused
yet he felt good
wanting to tell her things from his heart
"I" - that was all he could
then he smiled and she smiled back

it didnt matter to him
it was a wonderful day in his life

Sethusamudram

I generally dont spend time on all these political affairs hitting the stands. But this one caught my attention. For once, I felt that Dr.MK was trying to make some economic sense (dont know what political gains he has out of this).

This project, that aims to reduce the distance travelled by the ships, has seen so many governments that perhaps no other project in India has seen. The first proposal for this project was produced in 1860. As I was doing my research on this project, I noticed one issue that read "This project cannot be completed in 3 yrs and it will take atleast 30 yrs". Even if the government had dredged one kilometer every year, considering the way in which things move here, we would have completed this project much before independence. Ok, you can always blame it on the British. Maybe it was because of them that it got delayed. But after that? Well, I guess most of the people involved in economic development then, were so confused that they thought - we dont even know what to do in land, why go to the sea?

Coming back to present situation. You know that if people want to just stop something, then they can blow it just totally out of proportion. So a bunch of environmentalists came in and complained about protection of corals and species.

Then came the stalwarts with their evidence of Rama's bridge to Lanka being present there. Especially the BJP Leaders, who generally do not have any logic in what they propose to say about Hinduism. The bridge dates back around 3500 yrs. According to the Vedic system, Ramayana happened about 880,148 years ago. And it was the Treta Yuga. After every Yuga, the world is created, destroyed and re-created. Ok, lets not confuse ourselves with mythology and carbon dating. by preserving that portion of the sea, what are we going to get. Not even one person can take a photograph with the bridge in the background. nor can they go to that point and tell their friends, can you see below - thats the bridge lord rama built.

Shouldnt we be more focused on economic benefits at this point? If someone tells that the projected profits or savings from this project is not correct or the amount of traffic is not going to increase because of this, then its quite acceptable. thats the direction in which we have to think. someone tells that the pre-tax IRR of the project is 2.6%. Thats the exact point to note. And then we keep wasting time on doing some processions and meetings, taking up the time of the public, media etc. And blame each other!

Interesting Read

according to scientists, females are predominantly attracted to 'weedier' types, who look 'kind and trustworthy'.

Jerry Hall says - to keep a man happy, a woman must be a cook in the kitchen, a lady in the drawing room and a slut in the bedroom.

For a woman to be truly happy with a man, he would need to be a hunk in the bedroom,a cook in the kitchen, a vision of machismo in public, a wimp in arguments(but not too much of one, as he must gauge the right times for listening sympathetically and conceding absolute defeat, as opposed to the times when the only correct thing to do is tumble you crossly into bed), and easily capable of fixing everything from broken dishwashers to awkward work dilemmas, without being in any way controlling in matters which you can handle perfectly well without his great clodding interference.

while females worldwide struggle to be Superwoman, what they want for themselves is Superman. Clark Kent for the wimpy days of the month; a rippling superhero on demand.

the more obvious point is that men and women are, and have always been, deeply ill-suited to a lifetime's monogamy. The idea of trying to spend decades with one other person is both loony and doomed. It can't work; we should all stay alone. But that point is a bit depressing, so let's be glad that these 'scientists' are invariably talking nonsense and best ignored.

Little Miss Sunshine

Finally, I got a chance to see this Oscar Nominated movie. It was awesome. The cute little girl in the movie, Olive, surely wants to be the prepubescent beauty queen called Little Miss Sunshine. The movie begins with Olive practising the moves in front of the TV.

This is the Hoover family - totally dysfunctional. The dad (Kinnear) is a motivational speaker. His nine ways of doing something doesnt get him anywhere. But he still believes that he can make it big and sell books based on his theory. His daughter Olive (Abigail) is also a great pipe dreamer. She, with her not so great looks and tiny pot belly, has this great confidence of winning the crown. Brother Dwayne (Dano) is preparing to join the Air Force and is silent for most parts of the movie. Toni Collette is the mom in the movie and she is depressed with her husband. throughout the movie, she tries to keep her family together. She comes across as a supportive mother who is confident and strong.

Grandpa played by Arkin is an amazing character. He does use the F word so many times in the movie that it becomes very uncomfortable. But he makes one comment thats perhaps the best one in the whole movie - "A real loser is someone who's so afraid of not winning he doesn't even try."

Steve Carrell is the mom's brother, the uncle, who gets rejected by his gay friend, tries to commit suicide and then ends up in the house. throughout the movie, he supports the family in what they do, but still keeps his serious face. I dont even remember him smiling a bit.

The movie is all about these 5 people getting on a VW Wagon and heading to California from Albequerque, the events that happen on the way and how they pull it together. suddenly dwayne realises that he is color blind. knowing that he cannot join the force, he cries hard. grandpa takes an overdose of drugs and kicks the bucket.

but the essence of the movie is the togetherness that it creates. the ultimate feeling for everyone in the movie is Olive's participation in the contest and they would go and do anything to see her on stage.

best part - Olive goes on stage and dedicates a song to her grandpa. when quizzed about where her grandpa is, she innocently says - grandpa is in the trunk of our car.

Workplace never gets better

So the next thing I did was to enrol in the Fitness One run gym at the office. Although the name of the Gym suggests a good brand, inside here its like yet another street gym with few standards. I dont understand, why the Gym fee has to be this low. Its actually less than a third of what you have to pay outside. And because of this, the facilities are quite bad. And the music sucks! Big Time. It just spoils your mood for a good workout when you hear that.

The most and ridiculously funny part is the dress code. You are not supposed to wear a sleeveless t-shirt to the gym. And this rule was given by the HR Department here. I still havent got the point.

Found this on another blog and thought I must let you all know. Click Here

And the next thing is about people just pushing their work to you. So this is right now happening to me. People above just transfer all the junk work to you and they keep waiting for you to let them know. In the middle, there is nothing called a follow. All they do is write an email and keep quiet for 10 days. At the end, jump at it and whatever. Still the problem of doing something because someone used to do it before exists around here. Not much of reasoning.

News spreads quite fast I say - my project was running off-track for a while. Luckily, we managed to get it back to running on time. That was after I spent two whole days trying to explain why we didnt deliver on time. So, the first question that your peers or seniors ask you (with a dirty smirk on their face) is "I heard that your project is delayed and the client has raised an alarm". All they want to know is whether your ass is on fire. Few months back, there was a huge appreciation that we were doing extremely well. Not many people bothered. And people have their own egos. A notion that just because they have spent donkey's years in the Services Industry, they know it all.

And the non-stick gum could be in stores by 2008! Its getting too technical. So you can read more about it here. Click Here. Please do not consider this as a filler to my blog space. Its just my initiative to let you know those interesting facts from around the world.

I still remember a gum incident that happened in school. I think I was in 10th grade or maybe 9th. A friend of mine was a big fan of the BIG FUN bubble gum. Remember this brand? This brand was literally an our time brand. The Babool and CenterFresh and whatever we have now are all late entrants. Anyway, so out of doign something for fun, this friend pulled out the gum and stuck it on another friend's head. You know these things. The stuff they put inside are so strong that it just got stuck completely. It gave no way. The next day my friend had to get a haircut done. That one place on his head looked like a small crater.

Poem: Her Shadow

She entered the temple hall
white frock and jasmine flowers
black walls and incense sticks

raising her hands upto the sky
indirectly she said "amma*, please hold me high"

with palms together, she looked ahead
not knowing what she was seeing
a belief that was innocent

minutes later they walked out
into the surroundings held by the wall
horizon trying to eat the orange ball

she looked down and surprise!
a mythical figure had taken her side
confused but not afraid, she stood
thoughts in her mind of different kinds

three steps to the right
the dark friend was still by her side
three steps to the left
and nothing had changed

suddenly amma lifted her
and the dark friend was gone
she wondered where


* amma - tamil word meaning mom

What happened to Orkut

Orkut was simple, plain and nice. I liked it the way it was. It wasnt like all those Beta Sites trying to do too many things at one go.

And then, the magicians rather product managers from Google came, said Abracadabra - changed it.

Now, the look is still like the Old one, but not quite like that. It feels more cramped. When I look at Orkut now, my profile feels claustrophobic, cluttered. I have no words to say.

No, its not the fact about taking time to get used to all of this. If it did not appeal the first time, then its probably not going to at all.

And today, there are other features. Like who updated and what was updated. This is a copy from Facebook.

The most innovative company of today has started copying now?

Chak De India

As promised, I begin my review of Chak De India. Saw this movie yesterday with a packed audience in the Sathyam Complex in Chennai, in their largest screen.

What a wonderful feeling it was. A different essence of patriotism, for the country and for the game. I had read a good number of reviews of Chak De. So, I did have a lot of expectation about the movie. Nothing was contrary to my belief. In fact, the movie did take me by surprise at a lot of instances and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The fact that every game is important and its the interest of the players that matters is evident. This movie went on to show everyone that there is much more than CRICKET for India.

Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) is not really the hero of this movie. He is rather the leader who is also a facilitator. The main characters to watch for are the girls who come from different parts of the country for a common cause (well they dont initially, but they change themselves over the course of the movie) - the spirit of sportsmanship and the fact that they represent the country.

This film is a classic example of managing difficult teams and people. There are several instances where SRK provides motivation and drives the girls to victory. As the story progresses, we can see a leader emerging from each player on the field. Togetherness makes a great difference.

SRK is not the coach who shows the girls the easy way out. He is harsh and a true task master. He treats every girl on the field like a man. No sacrifices just because you are a woman. If required you have to fight it the hard way. And the girls who form the cast are just like that. We see that they don't get upset or weak because of all this. They are rash, come across like warriors, but they do understand each other's feelings and respect that too. They live for each other and are compassionate.

Then there are the men on the board who drink tea and eat biscuits to keep criticizing the women. I guess this is what really happens at the top. These people just look for the money and not the talent. And this could be true even with BCCI or the Indian Olympics Committee. What purpose does it serve in having someone who is politically strong as a president or a senior member of such organizations. What is the value add he or she is going to bring?

We still haven't learned those lessons. The London Olympic Committee chairman is Lord Seb Coe who was an Olympic Champion in his time. But we have a bunch of good-for-nothing fellows sitting there.

Coming back to the movie. The government officials are stunned by the women's game and they are forced to sponsor them. And what more, the underdogs win. The second half is just hockey matches between different countries and its really fast, but exciting. There is one part where NAIK calls home and says "Marke aayenge par haarke nahi aayenge" or something like that, which translates as "We'll return dead, but we'll not return as losers". My eyes were full when I heard that. Those few words had so much power and emotion packed inside that it created an uncontrolled burst of happiness within me and I was happy that I was able to share the same enthusiasm that the players displayed on the screen. It was total involvement.

And this movie was inspired by the Women's Hockey Team that won the Gold in 2002. Another interesting read on the same lines is the HINDU Article. Thanks to Neha Viswanathan for these links.

Overheard...

I heard this when I was sitting in the office bus on my way back from work.

(Conversation translated from Tamil)

Woman speaking to someone on the Phone: I just got on to bus. I should reach by 9pm. Dont worry, I will not miss "Kolangal".

"Kolangal" - a tamil word in plural for Kolam, which is a design that is made out of color powder. You could call it Rangoli.

Anyway, Kolangal here refers to a mega-serial/soap that has been running for more years now. Mega-serials/soaps in Tamil Nadu are known for their baseless and dragging storylines, filled with crying daughters, agony aunts and nagging men.

What I was surprised about is the amount of interest that this woman showed in terms of being on time to see some goddamm soap which is so irritating and a total waste of time. We complain of our mom's and grandmom's watching these programmes day in and day out and here we have young women in chennai who are interested in these things. You'd say that this is a one off, I wouldnt quite agree. Chennai women are still like that.

ICICI Credit Cards - Worst Customer Service Ever

ICICI boasts to be the fastest growing bank. What's the point. Their customer service sucks.

When I joined work, I had applied for 2 credit cards. One was Standard Chartered and the other one was ICICI. ICICI went over the board and even promised to give a photo card. Standard Chartered did not do all that. They just promised a simple and value creating card. And they lived up to that. The card reached me in less than 2 weeks of my application - without much hassle. No too many phone calls asking for this photocopy and that verfication. In fact, I had provided the least amount of documentation to these guys and their service was excellent.

Coming to the Indian outfit - ICICI. I applied to the card and from then on, there was no response. After about 15 days of application, I tried calling them. Firt thing I find out - one of the guys who collected my application form has resigned and the other has no connection with the Credit Card team. So, they still havent filed my applciation. No action has been done for 15 days. I sent out a stinker to their manager and then things get in progress. Their executive calls me frantically and then asks for some details, along with proofs. With reluctance, I gave them the documents they asked for. Then is another period of silence. No action for 10 days and then I get a call from a representative, telling me that the application has been filed and it would take 45 days for whole process to get over.

I thought - What the F*** is going on? It takes a bank 10 days to generate a credit card application number and another 45 days to send that card to me! Totally insane.

Who is that Senior Vice President who made such horrible Service Level Agreements? 30 days to verify a person's details and 15 days to generate a credit card number and mail it across to the applicant. I havent seen this happen with any other bank I have ever dealt with.

ICICI boasts that they have 7,000,000 credit card customers and they are still growing. Whats the point.

When Citibank was here, they told us that they dont want to be a JUST ANOTHER BANK. Now I can totally understand that. For Citi, they dont want to service any tom, dick and harry in India. They want to service only premium customers. So they are not even bothered if their customer base doesnt grow at even half the rate at which ICICIs grows. But ICICI wants to just spread like fire and do nothing. They dont want to keep the set of customers who would never default on their card payment, rather they are more worried about getting their sales target.

Well, this is my experience. Maybe you got your card faster. ICICIs poor service level extends to their ATMs as well. Any outlet you enter, to withdraw money, there are atleast 10 people in queue. And this is an ALL DAY situation.

Blog Action Day

Why PDA?

Nowadays its almost becoming like the next best thing to do on the road. Before, it was just there in the film or maybe the SITCOM - the hero used to run around the trees hand in hand with his woman. Then came coffee shops, temples, book stores, the library, and many other public places. Oh yes, how can we forget the beach. And now we see all of it around us.

Today if you take a walk around the most visited public places in Chennai, you can hear noises that you'd usually hear inside the bedroom rather within the four walls of any place where you'd find some privacy. Sometimes you'll also get to see more. If you walked along the beach, you'd find people engaged in a lust filled activity. And perhaps this is not just with Chennai, it might be true with every city that is trying so hard and fast to be on the track of becoming a Metro.

This was the topic of yesterday's discussion on TV - whether we should allow such things or should we try and stop this?

Our country is going through a phase of transition where we have been questioning the certainities of the past with the happenings of the present. Our's is a place where a guy walks into an Infosys or a Wipro and calls his CEO by first name but does not do anything of that sort to his elders when he is at home. The indian mindset is one place where you will find a bluetooth dongle and a religious pendant co-existing in the 21st century. So, for a fact, we know that we are one of the most self-adjusted species in the world. Given that, should we allow Public Display of Affection (PDA)?

People argue that its me and my partner. How does it bother you? Well the point is that we have never lived like that in this country. We dont live in India like how I lived in London for 2 yrs. My neighbors didnt even smile at me in those 2 years and it was NOT because of me! There, most people live just for themselves. They call it their SPACE. Whatever, perhaps such societies were more outward and were not bound by rules of religion or anything in those lines. But even in a place like London, there are restrictions. Once when walking into the train station, I saw two people making out big timein one of the building corners. Quite soon, the police came around and asked them to leave.

So there is definitely a limit everywhere and with things like this, we cannot afford to create a law or draw a line telling what we can do in public and what we cannot. It is a personal choice.

The fact is ours is still a free land. People can do what they want as long as it does not affect the general life of a person. Kissing and hugging someone on the road obviously does not affect a third person on the bike. The only thing that could happen is he might get distracted and bump into the next vehicle on the front. And we cannot say that people should mind their own business. After all you are in a public place and respecting certain untold values that our society cherishes, we should keep ourselves in control of what we do. The only question is - would you do that in front of your family or friends. Not quite, right! So there is the answer.